Big Apple tasting
September 15th, 2013 | Tasting
This year’s late harvest has enabled us both to make a trip that is often difficult, if not impossible…… a visit to New York for the annual tasting of our importer. Unfortunately this tasting is nearly always held at the beginning of September, meaning that it usually collides head on with the arrival of our grapes! Of course we could employ a sales director, an executive who could attend these events on our behalf, but this is just not the way we chose to work. Angela and I prefer to work ‘hands-on’ and travel to meet our friends and partners around the world in person. It goes without saying that, given the choice, our importers and their customers also prefer to meet those responsible for making Castro Martin face-to-face. The family behind the wine.
One of the other advantages of Angela making the journey to New York with me is that it negates the need to travel with a huge shopping list! The credit cards take a pounding as we both shop for the goods simply not available in our remote corner of Spain. It also gives me the opportunity to make my annual pilgrimage to the home of photography – the B&H store on 34th and 9th Ave – the world’s best photographic shop.
On the wine side of things, it is always very gratifying to witness the growth of albariño in the U.S. market, and the fact that many of those who taste already know our wine, or at the very least, know our denomination. That is why the United States is by far the biggest and most important market for our grape variety, and happily the numbers are still increasing….
This year’s late harvest has enabled us both to make a trip that is often difficult, if not impossible…… a visit to New York for the annual tasting of our importer. Unfortunately this tasting is nearly always held at the beginning of September, meaning that it usually collides head on with the arrival of our grapes! Of course we could employ a sales director, an executive who could attend these events on our behalf, but this is just not the way we chose to work. Angela and I prefer to work ‘hands-on’ and travel to meet our friends and partners around the world in person. It goes without saying that, given the choice, our importers and their customers also prefer to meet those responsible for making Castro Martin face-to-face. The family behind the wine.
One of the other advantages of Angela making the journey to New York with me is that it negates the need to travel with a huge shopping list! The credit cards take a pounding as we both shop for the goods simply not available in our remote corner of Spain. It also gives me the opportunity to make my annual pilgrimage to the home of photography – the B&H store on 34th and 9th Ave – the world’s best photographic shop.
On the wine side of things, it is always very gratifying to witness the growth of albariño in the U.S. market, and the fact that many of those who taste already know our wine, or at the very least, know our denomination. That is why the United States is by far the biggest and most important market for our grape variety, and happily the numbers are still increasing….